I swear to you, it's like we grew up in the same household. I forgot about covering my butt with my hands and the threats of extra spankings if I didn't move them, and my sisters and I still "joke" about my mother's insane lectures. WHAT.

What a strange thing for us to have in common, but -- hey!! -- we're not alone with our crazy childhood experiences!! My god, the lectures!!

My sister, who is six years younger than I am, decided to start pretending it never happened and posted to everyone on facebook that anything negative I say about my parents is because I am cray-cray and have false memories. Fortunately, anyone who has ever seen my mother drink (and even some folks who just met my mom when I was in high school (before she started getting drunk around my friends)) knows my sister is full of shiitake.

So, Beetroot, Raygold, and I were walking to the park in Lancaster (we went on a mini Travelodge £15/night 3-nighter trip and it was fantastic and if you are ever in Lancaster, go to the Whale Tail Cafe because it is all vegetarian and really vegan friendly and really kid friendly, too, and I almost died when I had their chocolate cake) and there is suddenly just this random thick patch of ice covering the entire pavement. I tell everybody to be careful not to slip and explain that if I fall, baby Vax could get really hurt or even die, so it's important that they don't try to push or pull me down while I am crossing the ice.

We start to cross the ice. Beetroot is fine, but Raygold slips and falls on his bum. "OH, NO! HUMF IS DEAD!!!!!" he shouts, clutching his stomach in horror. I am simultaneously laughing to the point of tears and reassuring him that Humf is just fine. He was very relieved.

My 2 neices playing - one with a doll stuck under her shirtB: I am pregnant. I'm going to have a baby. 2 or 3 minutes pass.B: I am tired of being pregnant. Ooooh...look, the baby is bornded! (whisking baby out from under her shirt).E: NO! The baby has no shoes!!!B: Well, sometimes babies are borned without thier shoes on. (a second later she whisks some shoes out from under her shirt). The babies shoes are borned now too!Then much breastfeeding and diaper changing ensued.

Last night my nanny charge (22 months old) was starting to get a bit tired and grumpy, and I did something to annoy her - well, she walked away, picked up her phone, and started shouting into it, high-powered-executive style. That'll show 'em!

_________________Jack Sprat could eat no fat and his wife could eat no lean, and then their daughter became a vegan and got a boyfriend with an onion allergy. --- My dad.

telling a kid "I'm going to spank you tonight" or whatever and having them dread it and doing it after the infraction is likely forgotten seems messed up to me.

My mom did the classic "wait until your dad gets home".... So all day long we had to look at the note and dread the moment our dad got home, because administering punishment was the first thing he did when he walked in (after removing his belt). Seriously, the more I think about it, the more forked up it all seems.

This was my house, with the belt (and the soap too, to this day glycerin soap is not welcome in my home). And we wonder why my relationship with my father was so bad.

And from his point of view, what a bisque of a situation. You work like a dog all day and your first order of business is to whip your kid, who has made your wife cry because the kid told the principal to go fork himself at school today [that was me]. How can it be possible to do that and keep your own mental health, not to mention a loving, functional relationship with your child. I think about this and my father's own mental health challenges and it makes me want to cry for him.

again, thank goodness we're doing away with this.

I think it's amazing and kind that you can look at the entire situation from his perspective too and show some compassion even though what he did was not ok. I didn't want that to go unsaid in this thread. Another reason that you're pretty forking cool.

So, Beetroot, Raygold, and I were walking to the park in Lancaster (we went on a mini Travelodge £15/night 3-nighter trip and it was fantastic and if you are ever in Lancaster, go to the Whale Tail Cafe because it is all vegetarian and really vegan friendly and really kid friendly, too, and I almost died when I had their chocolate cake)...

I haven't been to The Whale Tail since about 1999! It had lots of big wooden benches and we had some really warming minestrone. The park in Lancaster is lovely. They also have a scary looking Victorian built psychiatric hospital there that looms up at you as you pass by on the train.

So, Beetroot, Raygold, and I were walking to the park in Lancaster (we went on a mini Travelodge £15/night 3-nighter trip and it was fantastic and if you are ever in Lancaster, go to the Whale Tail Cafe because it is all vegetarian and really vegan friendly and really kid friendly, too, and I almost died when I had their chocolate cake)...

I haven't been to The Whale Tail since about 1999! It had lots of big wooden benches and we had some really warming minestrone. The park in Lancaster is lovely. They also have a scary looking Victorian built psychiatric hospital there that looms up at you as you pass by on the train.

Sounds like it hasn't changed much! <3 I loved the benches because they are easier for my kids (and their coats).

I totally missed the Victorian psych hospital on the train, though! I love that kind of stuff.

We were staying with my sister and BIL this weekend. DS had found this very large cup with a penguin on it and had asked if he could drink his water from it this morning. BIL comes to breakfast with a similarly sized cup that was decorated with Christmas ornaments, some of which had pictures of things in it. DS starts asking what each picture is, and then starts asking where the penguin is. BIL says there is no penguin, but DS keeps asking why he has no penguin, the clear implication being that a cup without a penguin is inferior to a cup with a penguin. Finally he comes to accept that his favorite uncle's cup has no penguin and he says, "Would you like to go to the store and buy a cup just like mine?" You have to love the mind of almost three year olds.

Raygold and Beet were watching a Sesame Street show about eating fruits and vegetables. During a scene where an orange is competing against Cookie Monster in a game show, Raygold ran over to me and desperately said, "Crabby, we not eat talking oranges, okay?"He was very relieved when I said, "No, of course not."